Pearly GATES

Notes:

Paul received his early education in the schools of his neighborhood, and grew to manhood on the home farm, and after his marriage he bought a tract of land in another section of the town. Upon this tract of land he settled, and was engaged in farming and stock raising. He met with continued success in his undertakings and was enabled to make material improvements on his property, on which he remained to the close of his useful and well-spent life. He reached a ripe old age, honored and respected by all who knew him for his honesty and high standards. In political faith he was a staunch Republican. Mr Gates was an active and devout member of the Unitarian church, of which he was deacon for a number of years. Mr. Gates and his wife passed a well-rounded married life of almost 54 years, and they were not long separated by death. She was laid to rest beside her husband, at Ashby. Mrs. Gates was a true Christian woman, thoroughly beloved in her home, to which her best thought had always been devoted.

Pearly married Mary BURR on 01 Oct 1834 in Ashby, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of Robert Waterman BURR and Susannah BUTLER) was born on 10 Nov 1810 in Ashby, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts; died on 19 Nov 1888 in Ashby, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 21 Dec 1911

Notes:

Samuel's boyhood was passed on his father's farm in the customary manner of the sons of the average farmer of those days, assisting in season with the work on the farm and attending the neighboring district schools during the winter months. While yet in his teens, in his 19th year, desirous of furthering his studies, he entered the State Normal School at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in 1857. For a short time after his graduation he was engaged as a clerk in the general store of Joshua E. Crane, but soon accepted a clerkship in the office of Messrs. Bates, Hyde & Company, manufacturers of cotton gins, at Bridgewater, which was the beginning of what proved to be a most honorable and successful business career. His deportment, application and all around adaptability to the business of the establishment commended itself to his employers and it was not long where he was thoroughly familiar with all the details of the business and given the opportunity of entering the concern as an interested member. This opening was taken advantage of by him and he continued actively identified with the same until his death. Upon the breaking out of the civil war, Mr Gates offered his services to his country, enlisting in the regular army of the United States at Washington, for 5 years, and was detailed for duty in the adjutantgeneral's office in the war department under Marjor Samuel Breck, then assistant adjutantgeneral and afterwards adjutant-general of the United States army In 1864 he was given an honorable discharge by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, and he then returned to Bridgewater, resuming his position with Messrs. Bates, Hyde & Company. In 1877 the business was incorporated under the name of the Eagle Cotton Gin Company, and Mr Gates was made treasurer of the new corporation, continuing to discharge most satisfactorily the duties of that office until 1899,when this concern with other similar plants consolidated under the name of the Continental Gin Company, of Birmingham, Alabama, the latter concern being incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware. Mr Gates was then made a director of the new corporation, and from that time until his death continued in charge of the plant at Bridgewater. As he was noted for his generosity, it was naturally to be expected that he would be liberal in his public bequests.

Samuel married Marcia Elizabeth JACKSON on 26 Oct 1871. Marcia (daughter of Jacob JACKSON and Joan HOLMES) was born on 16 Aug 1843; died on 20 Jan 1873; was buried in Mt. Prospect Cemetery, Bridgewater. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Hattie Patten CLARK. Hattie was born in New Ipswich, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Rev. George Stetson SHAW. George (son of Elnathan Tabor SHAW and Mary Ann STETSON) was born on 08 Apr 1837 in Bristol, Rhode Island; died on 01 Feb 1909 in Ashby, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]